Rich, buttery, tender Pink Lemonade Pound Cake smothered with delectable tangy Lemon Buttercream frosting is wonderfully delicious and perfect for birthday parties, baby showers and Labor Day!
But while we’re talking about baby showers, this Pink Lemonade Pound Cake is in honor of my friend Sally of Sally’s Baking Addiction who is expecting her first baby next month! We couldn’t be more excited for Sally and her husband, Kevin so some blogger friends and I are throwing her a virtual baby shower!
If you aren’t familiar with Sally or her blog, she is the creator of the number one dessert blog that is my go-to for desserts. In fact, I made her famous Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies last year for neighbor Christmas goodies and they were the hit of the crowded cookie plates! All her desserts are reliable/no fail, and easy-to-follow. And just like her desserts, Sally is as perfect and sweet as they come!
So let’s celebrate Sally and her eagerly anticipated new arrival with this exquisitely delicious Pink Lemonade Pound Cake and the rest of these blogger friends fabulous desserts!
Funfetti Cheesecake with Cake Bottom
Chocolate Funfetti Cheesecake Bundt Cake
Gluten Free Confetti Thumbprint Cookies
When I was brainstorming about what to make for Sally, I knew I wanted to make a summery dessert – and what’s more summery than lemonade?! So I paired a moist pound cake with a hint of lemon with the best ever lemonade frosting – heaven! So let’s start with the pound cake. As you can tell by my dessert index page, pound cakes are my cake of choice because they not only are super easy, taste 1000x better than store bought, and keep beautifully, but they are also decadently rich, velvety soft and boast a smooth crumb that’s “dense to the point of creaminess.”
Does it get any better?!
With Lemonade frosting, yes, yes it does. The Pink Lemonade Pound Cake’s richness demands an equally show stopping frosting. And this Pink Lemonade frosting, my friends, is ridiculous. It is silky sweet and tangy and really tastes like lemonade in frosting form. Now the trick to buttercream frosting with the perfect consistency is to never microwave your butter or cream cheese. I have been guilty of this and wondered why my frosting was runny and hard and hard to spread. If you allow your butter and cream cheese to soften at room temperature, you are guaranteed the perfect frosting every. single. time.
To make this Pink Lemonade Pound Cake extra special, I candied some lemon slices which might sound difficult but is actually wonderfully easy – but again, is purely optional for looks. To candy lemon slices, simply dissolve sugar in water over medium heat, add your lemon slices and remove from heat. You let the lemon slices cool in the syrup then transfer them to a wire rack to drain then sprinkle both sides with sugar and sprinkles – viola! The prettiest lemon slices you have ever seen!
So here’s to Sally and her new baby and here’s to you and your big slice of tangy, sweet, rich Pink Lemonade Pound Cake. So you can taste a slice of summer all year round!
Looking for more Cake Recipes?
- Coconut Cake (Triple Coconut!)
- Lemon Poke Cake
- Chocolate Covered Strawberry Pound Cake
- Strawberry Shortcakes
- Carrot Cake with Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting
- Chocolate Raspberry Cake
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Pink Lemonade Pound Cake
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Ingredients
Pink Lemonade Pound Cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 15 drops red food coloring
- 5 large eggs at room temperature
- 1/2 cup full fat sour cream at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup milk at room temperature
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
Candied Lemon Slices (optional)
- 1 cup sugar, divided
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 large lemons, halved lengthwise, then sliced into 1/4” thick slices
- Pink sprinkles
Lemonade Frosting
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter softened**
- 2 cups Powdered sugar
- 8 oz. cream cheese cut into 8 pieces softened**
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 drops red food coloring or more if desired
Instructions
Pink Lemonade Pound Cake
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and generously spray all surfaces of a 16 cup nonstick angel food cake pan with nonstick cooking spray WITH FLOUR*, OR grease and flour the inside. Set aside.
- Sift the 3 cups of flour, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy then add sugar and beat until fluffy, scraping sides down as needed, about 7 minutes (beating the full 7 minutes results in a fluffier cake). Add food coloring and mix until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just the yellow disappears after each egg. Stir in sour cream and vanilla extract just until combined.
- Mix milk and lemon juice together.
- With mixer running on low, gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture in thirds, alternately with milk/lemon juice mixture in between each third. Beat on low until just combined.
- Spoon batter into prepared pan, smooth top and tap pan on counter a few times to release air bubbles.
- Bake until a wood pick inserted near the center of cake comes out clean, 80 – 90 minutes, taking care not to overbake (overbaked cakes are not as moist).
- Let cake cool in pan for 20 minutes then remove from pan, and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Candied Lemon Slices
- Combine ¾ cup sugar and water in small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly until sugar dissolves. Add lemon slices and bring to a simmer for 15 seconds. Remove from heat and let sugar and lemon slices cool completely, about 45 minutes.
- Transfer lemon slices to wire rack to drain, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle both sides with remaining sugar. Generously sprinkle top sides with pink sprinkles.
Lemonade Frosting
- Beat butter and sugar with handled mixer at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add cream cheese, 1 piece at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.
- Add lemon juice, vanilla and red food coloring and beat to combine.
- Evenly spread frosting over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with pink sprinkles and place lemon slices along bottom edge of cake (optional).
Notes
**Let cream cheese and butter soften at room temperature. Do NOT soften in microwave or frosting will be runny.
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averie @ averie cooks says
I am so impressed! A gorgeous scratch pink lemonade pound cake….swoon! It’s so beautiful! I’d love a huge slice!
Jen says
Thank you friend! I wish we were eating it together :)!
sally @ sallys baking addiction says
My dear friend Jen!!! You are the absolute BEST and I can’t thank you enough for all of the kind words and this BEAUTIFUL cake. xoxo
Jen says
My absolute pleasure Sally! We are all so happy and excited for you!! xoxox
Lynn @ Fresh April Flours says
I love this SO MUCH! What a gorgeous color and awesome idea for adding flavor! I have actually never made a pound cake… Is that awful of me?! I must use your blog as a guide when I get to do it someday hopefully soon!
Jen says
You are so sweet, thank you so much Lynn! And you will love pound cakes! They are so rich and melt in your mouth!
Laura says
Wow! Beautiful summer recipe! I will have to try to make this while the weather is still warm. Lovely recipe, thank you!!
Jen says
You are so welcome Laura, I hope you can make it soon and love it! Thank you!
Rachel F says
This is so pretty! And this is why I love you, every recipe you post looks beautiful and I immediately want to try it! Lemon is my absolute favorite, so I will be making this soon. I’ve made your hot lemon poke cake several times and it is amazing! Thanks for another sure-to-be-amazing recipe! 🙂
Jen says
Thank you so much Rachel, what a thoughtful comment! I love photographing food – a huge part of the job that I didn’t know I would enjoy so much! I am so happu to hear you are enjoying the Lemon Poke Cake Recipe – another lemony fav of mine! I hope you love this one just as much!
Shelley says
I am a lemon fan! I made pale yellow icing, the lemons contrasted beautifully, for our neighborhood summer picnic. We are still no rain for 70 days, everything is tinder and will burn so easily. Forests are on fire, in of all places normally rainy western WA. I used the oven around midnight so I could also run the dishwasher after the night air cooled down. The house smelled so yummy. Everyone loved the cake, a very beautiful and tasty dessert.
Jen says
Your cake sounds beautiful and what a perfect cake for a neighborhood picnic! I am so happy everyone loved it! I hope and pray you get rain soon!!!
Lindsey says
I made this today! I only had neon pink food coloring, but it definitely kicked up the color intensity! My lemons didn’t take the color as nicely though. So while they tasted good, the pink sugar on the sides kinda dissolved into the slices and took away from the visual.
Taste was fantastic though, the frosting in particular was a big hit!
Jen says
I am imagining a neon pink cake and absolutely loving it! And I agree, the frosting is a show stopper in itself! Thanks Lindsey!
Layne Schwabedissen says
So maybe not 4 teaspoons of red dye in the frosting. 4 drops maybe? My cake is SUPER pink. Still excited to eat it though 🙂
Jen says
hahahaha! I just changed the recipe, thanks Layne! I can’t believe no one else has caught that! I hope you liked your SUPER pink cake!
Marie says
This was a wonderfully easy recipe to follow and everyone thought it was absolutely delicious. Thanks for posting exactly what I wanted to make.
Jen says
You are so welcome Marie! I’m thrilled it was a hit!
Vanessa says
This looks amazing! I am thinking of using this for my daughter’s birthday. She loves all things pink! Can this be made with two 9” round pans? I don’t have any tube pans.
Jen says
Absolutely! Perfect for a birthday cake!
Alicia says
This cake looks delicious! Is it possible to prep some of this ahead of time? Like make the cake a day before the frosting and candied lemon slices then assemble?
Jen says
Hi Alicia! Sorry for the late reply— I’m catching up on a backlog of comments, but yes it is possible to make the day before! After your cake cools, wrap it in plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until ready to frost. Hope you enjoy!